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Holiday

Boy I really fell behind in my blogging. With the holidays, and this little guy getting MAJORLY sick (more on that below). So, I still have to do another post about my Alberta trip, I want to talk about my 2018 goals and a BUNCH of other blog stuff but for now I’m just going to do a photo dump from the holidays and a lot of little young sir, who somehow just keeps getting cuter and cuter. ✨

Over Christmas weekend, Alex came down with Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, which was absolute hell on us. He was in so much pain and covered in sores. It was too painful to eat or drink from a bottle for a couple days. I’m not even sure how we got through it! My parents came over and helped a lot the first two days, and Christmas Eve we went over there for dinner. Since HFM is viral you just have to wait it out, although the doctor we saw gave him antibiotics for possible strep (AND we alternated ibuprofen and tylenol ad nauseum) and that made it so he could at least eat a little and get some rest. But hooooooly shit were those first 48 hours difficult.

Christmas day things were getting back on track. We went back to my parents house for our traditional breakfast.

Also, it was cold. Alex missed a week of day care while his blisters healed so we stayed inside allll week.I’m not as ready with the camera as I was when this dude was just a little stationary nugget. But he’s also doing a lot more interesting things now (and as I mentioned previously, is SO CUTE. OMG HIS LITTLE BLOND HEAD).We also got the little guy a rocking horse for Christmas.Whoaaaa how did I get all my favs into a pic? Swords, trees, vikings, Christmas, feminism, MY BOY? 😍On December 30 the Royce family gathered for Christmas dinner and gifts. The next day, NYE, Alan’s parents were in town and we went to the Swedish Institute to check out the holiday deco and grab lunch. It was actually a perfect time to go – the crowds were minimal. Maybe we’ll make an annual thing of it!

How sweet is this little gnome? For the Swedish Institute visit I made sure he was dressed head to toe (literally) in Swedish brands. Name, Hanna Andersson and H&M. These little skiing overalls are too good.

Hope you and yours had a splendid holiday season. Looking forward to making some changes in this year!

Like this:

Our Christmas cards this year are from Artifact Uprising, a company I’ve loved and patronized for years now. I feel conflicted using design templates sometimes; I feel like I should use it as an opportunity to make my own. But they make it just so damn simple and convenient. Even easier is that we got real live family photos taken by my pal Cody Kartarik. It was such a great shoot and I felt like I had to do one of these multi-photo cards.

I love the Artifact Uprising designs because it feels like something I would do. They’re so simple and type-driven. They make it easy to give up control, and it takes like 5 minutes to put together. They’ll even address your envelopes if you’re so inclined.

Bonus: Artifact Uprising is a cool company to make photo gifts for people. I’ve given my mom a little calendar the last few years. They have a big sale today and you should go check it out.

(p.s. it sure looks like this is a sponsored post, right? well, it’s not! I just think Artifact Uprising is neat).

Like this:

Oh festive times! We have some good stuff today and I’m really excited to share it. Addie and I collaborated on a Thanksgiving-centered recipe post, with us both contributing food. If you’re like us, and are going to a big family gathering this Thursday and need to bring something, we have a few ideas for you that are easy and guaranteed to be a hit. I also had a great time styling this shoot, especially the little rotisserie chicken (which isn’t featured in this post, it’s merely decoration) which is like, so tiny. Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Appetizer: Rosemary Sea Salt Flatbread Crackers

(This is Caroline speaking) I think Rosemary is one of the most magical herbs. It smells amazing and I even love it for its aesthetic quality. I love using it in savory dishes, especially this time of year. A few years ago I made some rosemary flatbread crackers using a friend’s recipe for a Christmas party we were throwing and it was just so insanely quick and simple and I thought it would work equally as well as an appetizer for Thanksgiving dinner. They go great with a soft cheese like brie, and Addie whipped up some compote using leftover cranberries from her tart (see further down).

Method

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.Place flour, salt, sugar and rosemary in a bowl, whisk to combine. Then stir in water and oil, stir until fully combined.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper (slightly larger than your baking sheet.)Roll the dough until it is about ⅛th of an inch thick. you may need to add a bit of flour because the dough is quite sticky. Try to keep the thickness as even as possible.Trim the edges if you want. The edges tend to be thinner and so they may burn in the oven before the rest of the crackers are done.Cut the dough into squares using a pizza cutter. Brush with a little water and sprinkle with more sea salt if desired. Use a fork to prick each square a few times.Transfer the dough, still on the parchment paper, onto a baking sheet and place it in the oven. Immediately reduce heat to 425.Bake for 12-17 minutes, or until crackers are starting to become golden.

Cranberry Compote

Ingredients

Method

Finely grate zest from orange and set aside. Using a sharp paring knife, cut off peel and white pith from orange. Working over a small bowl, cut between membranes to release segments into bowl. Combine zest, cranberries, sugar, juice, and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have burst and sauce has thickened, 5–10 minutes. Chill until cold.

Gently stir orange segments into compote.

Side: Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

I was so pleased with myself for planting something green that I’m still able to harvest this late in the year. It coincided nicely with the holiday, and since Brussels sprouts are so common with Thanksgiving feasts these days, I decided it was a perfect simple side dish for this post. This preparation of Brussels sprouts was the first way I started cooking them after I started consuming them on a regular basis. There’s about a million recipes out there, but I think the simpler, the better. They just need a good deep caramelization, instead of a quick flash sauté. Once they get a good color on them and soften up, they’re done.

Ingredients

Method

Melt butter in a sauté pan. Add sprouts, shallot and garlic, and stir around. Let the shallot soften and the Brussels get some color, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Add a generous squeeze of lemon towards the end of cooking along with salt and pepper to taste.

Dessert: Cranberry Curd Tart

I’ve admired this recipe from The New York Times for a long time, but I’ve been intimidated by the process of making the curd and the fussy preparation of the crust. I decided I could start simple and use a store bought crust, which really fits the spirit of what we’re going for here- simple last minute Thanksgiving dishes. The curd was stupid simple to make and it barely took any time at all. The fresh cranberries are pure garnish, but they add a really lovely extra bit of color.

Ingredients

Method

In a large sauce pan combine cranberries, sugar, orange juice and peel (be careful not to include any of the bitter pith with the peel) over medium heat. Heat for about 10 minutes, until the cranberries have softened and popped. While the cranberries are cooking, crack two eggs plus two egg yolks into a large mixing bowl and whisk gently. Set aside. When the cranberries are finished, pass the mixture through a fine mesh sieve (like a chinois) using a ladle to push as much of the liquid through as possible. (Side note: the leftover pulp was turned into a compote that we used for our cheese and crackers spread- waste not!) Whisk the softened butter into the cranberry liquid until completely melted. Slowly whisk the warm cranberries into the eggs to temper until totally combined. To thicken, return to the pot over a low heat until it starts to boil. Stir to make sure the curd has thickened and there are no lumps. Let cool completely to room temperature and set aside.

While the curd is cooling, prepare the crust. Grease a fluted tart pan and press the pastry crust into the sides, cutting off any excess crust. Prick the crust with a fork and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Once the crust has lightly browned, take out and let cool completely. Once the crust is cooled, pour the cranberry curd into the tart shell and smooth out the top. Bake for about 10 minutes to set the curd.

Like this:

I was debating with myself whether it would make sense to send Christmas cards out this year so soon after sending Alexander’s birth announcements, but since it is his first Christmas, I didn’t want to miss the chance for marking this tiny milestone. I decided on designing them myself, like the announcements, and again printed them through VistaPrint. His adorable little gnome hat is from Hanna Andersson. And while “Peace on Earth” is a pretty general Christmas card greeting, it’s especially referential to the [ICONIC] Bing Crosby – David Bowie duet “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth”, a favorite of mine since I was a kid.EH? So good. And, I feel like this is a really strong message right now, in light of recent political events. The family photo was the tricky part though. We had the tiniest window for everything to go smoothly, as the cat was in her reindeer antlers, which she hates, and Alex had just woken up from a nap and had *not* had a clean diaper put on. Whoops. Plus I was controlling the camera from my phone! It was uber stress. So, I scrapped the original card design I had planned and stuck our photo on the back.

Like this:

I am the (or a) middle child in my family (of 4 siblings). My older sister, who is in the middle with me, is quite traditional in many ways. But I have made it my life’s mission to stand out as much as possible in my family. Not out of spite, probably, but just like, because I want everyone to think I’m weird.

This is especially true at Christmas. Long ago I stopped buying regular Christmas wrapping paper in favor for making my own (like one year I made a lino cut and stamped kraft paper). Other years I’ve done plain white, or black with white crosses. This year I have ALL these Stendig calendar pages. They’ve been sitting in my closet, some for a whole year, waiting to be used. What better way to leave my mark on this Christmas by crowding the tree with a display of black and white typography? I also hate wrapping presents, it should be noted. The least amount of effort I can put in is preferable. Of course a festive red bow would be very complementary but ehhhh, too lazy. My office scissors are from IKEA, of all places. The problem with these pages is that it’s much thicker than regular wrapping paper, and I don’t like using regular tape; I use washi duct tape. Anyway, the presents don’t like to stay super wrapped.

Alan isn’t anal about how his presents are wrapped, so, bless him, he has to buy his own paper at the store, which I think is really sweet and adorable (since he didn’t really grow up celebrating Christmas. He does this all for me. Awwwww).

BTW, if you’re looking for one of these calendars, they are way sold out. I tried to warn you. Better luck next year.